CHAPTER III. 



THE CRESTED TURKEY. 



Imaginary and doubtful animals. Crested Turkeys formerly in Holland. 

 None now produced in English poultry-yards. Still extant in Central Ame- 

 rica. Of two kinds. Not a freak of nature, but distinct species. Desiderata 

 in our menageries. 



So long as a creature is included, by common con- 

 sent, in the list of fabulous animals like the Unicorn, 

 the Phoenix, the Salamander, and the Mermaid 

 naturalists look down upon it with a feeling of com- 

 placent contempt. They smile, as they behold its effigy 

 carved in stone or cut on wood : not an incredulous 

 smile, for the question whether such phenomena are 

 credible or not does not dare to intrude itself; but the 

 curiosity is, to their minds, a natural-historical joke 

 a sort of Blue Lion, or Swan with two necks. Many 

 respectable and intelligent people are apt to be sceptical 

 as to the veracity of the representations of animals 

 hitherto unknown to them. The rude copperplate of 

 the Anhinga, in Willughby, has often been taken for an 

 outline sketch of a bird that never existed. Some 

 animals, however, that for a long period have remained 

 in the condition of zoological outlaws, have at last been 

 restored to their proper place in civilized society. The 

 Dodo, the Giraffe, the Aldrovandine (spicifer) Peafowl, 

 and others, have all passed through this state of tem- 

 porary rejection. They have been " cut " for a while, 

 but the force of truth and their own merits have rein- 



